I wanted to sit outside and write my own stories but the laundry beckoned, the dishes needed done and the tables needed wiped off so I sat down to charge my phone and glanced at Facebook and read this and , damn, it hit my heart.

It’s long like almost everything Amy Weatherly writes but it’s worth reading and soaking in.

You see, i turned 59 back in May and I’m making big plans for the rest of my life and they are all so simple- more time and experiences with those I love and more time thanking God for every breath I take and every smile I see and every star in the sky.

I want to live like I’m dying- aware, astonished, and in awe.

“I hope this doesn’t come off as morbid, but once it clicked with me just how short my time on earth really is, I started thinking about the end of my life.

Not in a bad way, or a sad way. Just in a how-do-I-make-the-most-out-of-my-time kind of way. Does that make sense?

And the conclusion I came to is that at the end, I don’t think I’ll care about my looks. I don’t think I’ll care whether people thought I was pretty, or thin. I won’t care what my clothes looked like or if they were expensive or on trend. I won’t care if my hands were perfectly polished and manicured and I won’t care if my hair was the right shade of blonde.

I don’t think I’ll care what my house looked like or if my walls were painted the trendy new color. I don’t think I’ll care how much my dining room table cost. I don’t think I’ll care about stains on the rug, or having a living room that looked like it belonged in a magazine.

I don’t think I’ll care how much money is in my bank account and I don’t think I’ll care about awards, or trophies, or climbing the ladder of success.

I don’t think I’ll care whether I was popular, or if I had the right social status. I won’t care if a lot of people knew my name, or if I was impressive. I think I’ll only care that the people closest to me were made better by knowing me.

I won’t care about who people thought I was.

I’ll care about who I actually was.

And I won’t care about having a life that looked good on social media, I’ll care about having a life that actually was good.

I’ll care that I lived well and I’ll care that I took chances. I’ll care that I soaked every single bit of joy out of my time that I possibly could. That I was grateful. I’ll care that I danced and ran through the rain and gave out compliments to random strangers and acted like my weird, quirky, authentic self.

I’ll care that I dedicated myself to raising my babies and that I gave my everything to my husband and that I built strong relationships with my friends. I’ll care that I showed up when it mattered and that I was honest and compassionate. I’ll care that I talked to God all the time and that I tried to get it right. I’ll care that my life produced good fruit…patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, peace, joy.

I’ll care that I believed the best in others and that I gave them grace. I’ll care that I refused to hold grudges and that I didn’t dive head first into petty drama about petty things that really don’t matter. I’ll care that I kept going when things got tough and that I persevered and that I was a light in dark places and dark times.

I’ll care that I gave Jesus my heart and I’ll care that others knew his name because it came out of my lips and because it was evident with the way I treated my neighbors that He was the King to me. That he ruled my life and that I followed him, not my feelings and not the rest of the world. Him.

And I’ll care that I loved and loved well.

When it was difficult. When they were difficult. When it didn’t come naturally or easily.

And I think that’s it.

I’ll care that first things came first and I didn’t
waste my time playing stupid games to get stupid prizes. That I knew what was important and that I held those things dear and watered the right plants and let the rest fall away like a bunch of dead leaves.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, take a minute to think about how short life is and what you really want out of it. Who do you really want to be?

Because, what I’ve learned, is that the things that will be important to me at the end of my life need to be the things that are important to me today. The things I want to be remembered for tomorrow need to be the things I live out in this moment.

Not tomorrow.

Not when I’m older, or retired, or when things have settled down.

This moment.

Love,
Amy”

This song says even more https://spotify.link/79Tjqa2rTDb